Teia (died 552 or 553 AD), also known asTeja,Theia,Thila,Thela, andTeias, was the lastOstrogothicKing of Italy. He led troops during theBattle of Busta Gallorum and had noncombatant Romans slaughtered in its aftermath. In late 552/early 553, he was killed during theBattle of Mons Lactarius. Archaeological records attesting to his rule show up in coinage found in formerTransalpine Gaul.

Teia
King of the Ostrogoths
Quartersiliqua of Teia. Obverse text inLate Latin:D[OMINUS] N[OSTER] THEIA RIX [sic] ("Our lord Teia the King").
Reign	552 – 552/553
Predecessor	Totila
Died	552/553

Teia (Teja) was a military officer serving underTotila, who was chosen as his successor by being raised over a shield after Totila was killed in theBattle of Taginae (also known as theBattle of Busta Gallorum) in July 552.^[1][a] Teia vainly attempted to continue the battle by rallying the remaining troops, but these forces were ultimately vanquished.^[3] Byzantine historian,Procopius, regarded Teia's bravery during this otherwise futile event as equal to that of all the "heroes of legend."^[3][b]

After this major Gothic defeat Teia gathered together the remaining Goths.^[4] In an act of revenge for the losses atBusta Gallorum, Teia ordered the death of all the Roman senators inCampania including Flavius Maximus, who had been exiled byBelisarius. He also had some 300 Roman children slaughtered, whom Totila had held hostage.^[5] Teia then made his way toPavia, where he took possession of the available treasures and as the new king, made a pact with theFranks.^[6] Teia encouraged his erstwhile Frankish neighbors to mobilize themselves against the Romans, which they did by remaining a menace to Justinian for the remainder of his reign.^[7]

On his way fleeing to southern Italy, he gathered support from prominent figures within Totila's armies, includingScipuar,Gundulf (Indulf),Gibal andRagnaris, to make hislast stand against theByzantine eunuch generalNarses at theBattle of Mons Lactarius—south of present-dayNaples nearNuceria Alfaterna—in late 552/early 553.^[6] Historian Guy Halsall called this battle, which occurred in the shadow ofMount Vesuvius, a "cataclysmic showdown."^[8] The Ostrogothic army was defeated there and Teia fell during the fighting.^[9] His head was paraded around the battlefield by the Romans, but as Peter Heather relates, "the Goths kept on fighting until dusk on that day and all through the next."^[10] Other prominent Goths like Scipuar and Gibal were probably also killed during the fighting. Those Goths who survived the battle and remained, negotiated an armistice.^[11] Gundulf and Ragnaris escaped from the field. Ragnaris later met Narses to discuss peace terms; they could not agree. As they parted, Ragnaris shot at Narses with an arrow; Narses' bodyguards mortally wounded Ragnaris, who died two days later.^[12] With that defeat, organized Ostrogothic resistance ended and along with it the Gothic war, which is also where the eighth and final book of Procopius'Wars concluded.^[13] By 554, after twenty years of protracted war, theOstrogothic Kingdom had faded into obscurity, and the Gothic people who remained began assimilating into the broader Italian population.^[14] Meanwhile, Justinian reasserted power across Italy by imposing his tax system and hisCorpus along with other Byzantine legislation, with central power resting in Constantinople.^[15]

Although his reign was brief, silver coins in Teia's name circulated all the way from his capital at Pavia along the Alpine trade routes into Gaul.^[16]